Leaving a research laboratory for a new position is an exciting milestone for many early-career scientists. However, organizing years of samples, reagents and research data while preparing for a career move—and often relocating to another city or country—can feel overwhelming.
These seven laboratory departure tips can help researchers plan a smooth transition, protect valuable research materials and make life easier for the next members of the lab.
Communicate your laboratory departure early
Pip Coen, a neuroscientist at University College London, established his laboratory in 2023. Although he hopes that none of his four PhD students and postdocs leaves soon, he already has a plan for managing their departure when the time comes.
Coen is one of the founding members of the SAFE Labs initiative, which has compiled a handbook to help scientists create more-positive laboratory environments. The handbook encourages labs to document and communicate expectations for researchers leaving the lab, ensuring that everyone understands their responsibilities.
Regardless of the reason for someone’s departure, Coen says, “I’d still much rather [they] told me as soon as possible, so we can prepare.”
Pip Coen helped compile a handbook on creating more-positive laboratory environments.Credit: Edward Emberson
For postdocs preparing to establish an independent research career, it is especially important to discuss which ideas, materials and data they can take to a new institution. Having this conversation early gives researchers time to develop a strong research plan and secure funding before applying for faculty positions, says Walter Chen, a neonatologist at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas.
Chen recommends beginning the discussion when a postdoc starts and revisiting it when they submit their first major paper. Otherwise, researchers may face “unpleasant surprises”—for example, discovering that their principal investigator (PI) plans to continue a project they believed they would take with them.
Document research work as you go
In the technology sector, rigorous and consistent documentation is a standard part of the job. In academic research, however, documentation can sometimes be overlooked when scientists feel they must choose between staying organized and completing another experiment, says Stefanie Seltmann, head of research data management at the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin.
Maintaining thorough records can be difficult, but it can “save a lot of headaches for you in the future”, says Maria Akopyan, an evolutionary genomics researcher who will establish her own laboratory at Rice University in Houston, Texas, this year. Akopyan’s approach is to “document things as if someone’s always watching”—in other words, anyone should be able to review her lab notebook and understand what happened.
“Document things as if someone’s always watching,” says Maria Akopyan.Credit: Victoria Tonikian
Researchers with less consistent documentation practices should begin organizing their records at least six weeks before moving, Seltmann recommends. In many cases, however, preparing complete and accurate records can take considerably longer.
Clean out expired chemicals and samples
Before leaving the laboratory, Chen recommends a thorough clean-up. Dispose of expired reagents and remove samples that are no longer useful or worth storing.
Collection: How to move lab
If you find unidentified chemicals or materials you do not know how to handle, contact your institution’s environmental health and safety department, says Craig Merlic, executive director of the University of California Center for Laboratory Safety in Los Angeles. The department can “help properly manage things so that you don’t have accidents”. When in doubt, treat all unknown chemicals as hazardous.
Merlic recalls an incident in which a new graduate student was clearing out chemicals left behind by a former lab member. When the student emptied a small, unlabelled tube of grey powder, it burst into flames, burned through a flame-resistant laboratory coat and caused serious injury. The powder was later identified as lithium aluminium hydride, a highly reactive compound.
Radioactive and biohazardous materials also require careful planning. Create a clear process for safely storing or disposing of these reagents, Merlic says. Your lab manager and colleagues will benefit from the extra preparation.
Label and organize laboratory materials
For samples and reagents that remain in the laboratory, accurate labelling, proper storage and clear location records can save the PI the cost and time of replacing materials. Good organization can also prevent future experiments from being disrupted.
Christina Termini, a cell biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, Washington, recalls seeing poorly labelled reagents left behind in previous laboratories. “People would leave and there would be entire boxes of antibodies that nobody used,” she says, because no one knew what the materials were or where they came from. With a single antibody tube costing at least US$200, poor inventory management can waste thousands of dollars.
Christina Termini recommends storing each lab project in a separate folder with subfolders for different experiment types.Credit: Robert Hood/Fred Hutch News Service
Plasmids, cell lines and transgenic animal lines developed during a project should almost always remain in the laboratory, says Chen. Animal lines can be preserved over the long term by freezing embryos or sperm, although this requires coordination with the institution’s animal facility staff.
When practical, researchers can deposit materials with specialist storage and management organizations. This can reduce the burden on colleagues who might otherwise receive requests from other researchers. Internationally available options include Addgene for plasmids, ATCC for cell lines and Jackson Labs for transgenic mice.
Organize and transfer research data
Seltmann co-authored a data-management checklist for researchers preparing to leave a laboratory. Begin by transferring project data from personal devices to centralized institutional storage, then transfer access rights to the PI, she says. For complex data-management questions, consult institutional experts such as data stewards and data librarians.
Lab morale got you down? Try a handbook
Regardless of the research field, Seltmann recommends saving files in open formats rather than proprietary ones—for example, comma-separated values (CSV) instead of Microsoft Excel files. Open formats make research data accessible to future users, regardless of which software they use.
Termini asks lab members to create a separate folder for each project, with subfolders for each experiment type, such as flow cytometry or quantitative PCR. Each experiment folder should contain the protocol, raw data, analysed data and visualizations. She recommends naming folders with the date, experiment type and a brief description of the experiment’s purpose.
For computational research, Jay Goldberg, an evolutionary geneticist at Arizona State University in Tempe, recommends annotating code and recording software version numbers. These details help others understand the analysis and reproduce the work. Goldberg also advises researchers to create a comprehensive README file and store it alongside the program files.
Preserve institutional knowledge before leaving the lab
Source: www.nature.com